Page 40 of Burden to Bear

“I’m sorry about earlier today,” I said. “I get the feeling you got the wrong impression about my response to you asking if we could have dinner together tonight.”

“Brock, it’s really okay if you’re not interested,” Mia insisted. “Honestly, I understand.”

Shaking my head, I insisted, “That’s just it, Mia. I am interested. It’s just that my mom’s birthday was today, and we planned to take her out for dinner.”

Her eyes widened, something changing in her expression. It was like hope had bloomed inside of her. “You had dinner plans for your mom’s birthday tonight?”

“Yes. I tried to tell you earlier, but you ran out of my house so fast that I couldn’t. And I realize now I probably should have come over sooner, but I didn’t want to upset you more than I could see you already were. In fact, I was just going to come over tomorrow morning, but I thought on it, and I didn’t think either one of us should go to bed tonight without me making it clear where I stood.”

Mia’s throat moved as she swallowed hard. “Where do you stand?”

I didn’t hesitate to tell her the truth. “The same place I did a week ago. I’d love to have dinner with you. And if you’re not busy tomorrow night, I’d like to invite you over to do that.”

Shock and awe were written all over her face. But she offered a slow nod in return as she said, “I’d love to have dinner with you, too. Tomorrow evening works perfect for me.”

I smiled at her. “I’ll have dinner ready by six.”

“Six is perfect.”

Unable to resist the urge, my eyes dropped down and raked over her body once more. When they returned to her face, that now had a hint of crimson in her cheeks, I said, “Goodnight, Mia.”

She nervously bit her lip before a small smile appeared. “Goodnight, Brock.”

With that, I turned and walked away.

And though I’d expected I would sleep better, knowing Mia understood I wasn’t turning her down, I found I still had some trouble sleeping.

Because every time I closed my eyes, I couldn’t stop envisioning her in that nightgown.

TWELVE

Mia

I’d just set my breakfast dish in the sink when the knock came at my door.

My eyes flew to the clock on my oven, saw it was just two minutes after nine, and a wave of uncertainty washed over me.

Was I losing my mind?

Had I been too out of sorts yesterday that I’d gotten the time for today wrong? I was positive I was supposed to be meeting Brock for dinner at six tonight, but since I wasn’t expecting any visitors, I could only assume it was him again.

Still feeling sleepy, I made my way to the front door, pulled it open, and found that I wasn’t wrong about my visitor.

Brock was standing there, looking refreshed and ready to go. Suddenly, any of the remaining confidence I’d had about my plans for the day today flew out the window. Brock was entirely too alert to be here on a whim.

Had I agreed to breakfast and dinner and not realized it?

If that was the case, I was utterly embarrassed. Because for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, I was standing in front of Brock wearing nothing but a soft, blue nightgown with a matching robe that wasn’t tied.

And though it was clear he didn’t seem to mind the view at all—his eyes drifted over my body from head to toe and back again—I felt slightly mortified. It was one thing for it to happen last night when it was late, and I had no expectation of him showing up on my doorstep. But it was something else entirely for me to have agreed to something, forgotten about it, and not even been dressed decently when the man arrived.

Not that it made any difference now—he’d already seen what he was going to see—I pulled at either side of my robe and attempted to close it over the front of my body as I said, “Good morning, Brock.”

He smiled, happiness radiating from him. “Good morning, Mia.”

“Did I get it wrong? I was sure we agreed to have dinner tonight.”

“We did.”

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